← The Dao De Jing
Chapter 1
The Way That Can Be Spoken
可道之道
The Text
道可道也，非恒道也。名可名也，非恒名也。无名，天地之始也；有名，万物之母也。
The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way. The name that can be named is not the constant name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of the ten thousand things.
Reading it
The opening line is usually read as a paradox about language. In the silk text it reads more like a warning: whatever you say about the way has already left the way behind. That is not a reason to stop speaking — it is a reason to hold what you say loosely.
开篇一句通常被读作关于语言的悖论。在帛书里，它更像一句提醒：凡你所说之道，已然落在道后。这不是叫人闭嘴的理由，而是叫人对自己的话不必握得太紧。
Practice for the week
This week, notice one thing you are certain about, and try describing it without using its name.
这一周，找一件你自以为确定的事，试着不用它的名字去描述它。